The featured presenter will be Bill Ward, founder and president of Front Range Internet, Inc. (FRII) of Fort Collins. Some of the topics he will talk about during the meeting will be:

Some of the technical topics Ward will discuss include:

Ward will answer questions from the audience following his presentation.

FRII is a full-service Internet service and access provider, supporting individual and business dial-up users. Its connection to the Internet is 2 full bandwidth, point-to-point T-1s that provides unshared 3.08Mbit access for the company's users. To that end, FRII's modem pool/line ratio will be maintained at about 10:1 - users to lines - to ensure its users have minimal busy signals. Each of FRII's more than 100 dial-up lines are served by US Robotics and Microcom V.34+ modems that support up to 33.6K bps connections. The processing power of its service has been distributed among multiple UNIX-based servers to provide redundancy and unconflicted servicing of World Wide Web, e-mail, USENET news, gopher, ftp, and other services.

FRII also provides dedicated services ranging from dedicated 28.8K modem, 56K/64K to T-1 connections. ISDN connections are also supported. These connections may be point-to-point or frame relay depending on location and customer needs.

As a full-service Internet provider, FRII will support the registration and maintenance of domain names, primary and secondary DNS, provide a news feed, class C subnets and expert support in implementing dedicated connections. FRII will provide expert World Wide Web page development services for its customers. FRII's complete support capabilities including scanning, graphic arts development and cgi programming ensure that our customers receive only the highest quality web pages.

Training and technical support are an integral part of the overall Internet services FRII provides. The company's training lab accommodates Mac and PC computers and is connected directly to our network for the highest performance.

FRII offers a free orientation for new users to introduce the basics of Internet access. Other classes such as Web page development, Internet applications (e-mail, Netscape, etc.), and individual training are offered at an extra charge. Its support staff is available to personally work your FRII service-related problems daily from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. They provide individual support at your location for an extra charge.

FRII’s service is built upon the philosophy of providing the highest level of performance and service of any Internet provider along the Front Range.

Ward’s resume includes a 15-year history of supporting large-scale networking and software systems development projects for Department of Defense customers. In addition, before founding FRII, Ward worked for seven years as a manager of Software Engineering, Systems Engineering and Systems Integration for Lockheed Martin at the National Test Bed Program located at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado. Ward also served more than 10 years in the U.S. Air Force as an F-106 pilot and operations staff officer. He attained the rank of major. He is a graduate of Purdue University with a degree in industrial management. As president of FRII, Ward has been instrumental in the company’s growth to more than 1,200 subscribers in less than six months.